BlackBerry Eliminates BIS/BES Data Plan Requirements for BlackBerry 10

Buried in the launch of BlackBerry 10, the company has kept quiet on whether or not BlackBerry 10 would still require dedicated BlackBerry Internet Service and BlackBerry Enterprise Service access plans in order for internet access and corporate server access to function correctly. Since the 2011 and 2012 BlackBerry service outages, the company had been mulling over methods to reduce the reliance on the dedicated service plans, which previously tunneled traffic over their dedicated servers and added a layer of security for users.

As of this week when the first wave of launches happens in Europe and Canada, the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 will no longer require dedicated BIS/BES service plans and can be used with conventional mobile data plans, greatly simplifying carrier operation of BlackBerry devices and easing the burden on both carriers and customers upgrading from BlackBerry 7 devices and lower while also opening up the BlackBerry 10 device line up to prepaid carriers without the need to possess their own BIS/BES licenses, which limited official support on prepaid to carrier-backed MVNOs such as Boost and Virgin Mobile.

By eliminating the BIS/BES requirement for BlackBerry 10, the company is losing a formerly guaranteed source of revenue and removes an integration layer that was considered the linchpin of its platform, but with the realities of the current marketplace in terms of data access requirements in order to remain competitive and the previous service outages driving many once loyal users away to other competing platforms with no such requirements, BlackBerry is hoping that eliminating the requirement will draw former and new customers back to the fold.